Ignition apparatus



July 6 1926.

I 1,591,424 A. A. KENT IGNITION APPARATUS Filed July 27. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l ATTORNEY.

Julyv 6 1926.

A. A.w KENT IGNITION APPARATUS Filed Jlily` 27, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QNJ/ INVENTOR.

BY 'wi @if X ATTORNEY Patented July 6, 1926i.

ARTHUR ATWATEZR KENT,` 0F ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA;

f iGNITIoN APPARATUS.

y Applicationledl July 27, 19`2`1. .Serial No. 487,994.

My invention relates to apparatus utiliz-V able in connection with the electrical ignlition system of an internalcombustion en-` gine, and particularly such as employed upon automobiles or other motor vehicles.

In accordance with `my invention, the ignif tion circuit, as the primary circuit of a spark producing induction coil, is` interrupted or controlled by timer or interrupter contacts whose cofaction is effected by a cam, or equivalent,V driven by a shaft of the enn gine,` as the engine cam shaft, through suitable gearing, or equivalent, advance or retardation 'of the ignition sparks being effected by bodily rotating the interrupter structu-re with its cam, or equivalent,- about the axis Vof said engine shaft. i

Further fin .accordance with my invention, the cam.' rotates about any axis which is disposed at a relatively greatangle, as a right angle or approximately a. right angle, with `respect to the axis of' the engine shaft which drives thecain and which is preferably offf set lfrom or does not intersect the axis `of theI engine shaft,r and advance `and retardatioinol'li the ignitionisleifected by so alctuatf ing, the structure that the axis of rotationof the `camy is rotated `about theV axis of said.. en

gine shaft. y Y r p Further in accordance with my invention, the cam, or equivalen-t, isautomatically angularly adjusted with respect to its axis of rotation vby speedk responsive `means,y as a centrifugal governor, for automatically `advancingor retarding ignition, the interrupter and'fcam structure, together with the speed responsive means, *being` additionally movable, as aforesaid, about the axis of the engine shaft foreifecting manual advance or retardation oit the ignition, e

My 'inventiony resides in structure kof the character hereinafter described and claimed.

For an illustration of one .ofthe various forms my invention may take, reference is toxbe had to the accompanying drawings, inA which: V l 1 l Fig. 1 `is an vend elevational viewl of vapparatus embodying my invention. p

Fig. 2 is ay longitudinal section, some parts on the lineQ-Q off'Fig. 1.

F ig. Bis a sectional view, partly in plan, takenon the line` 3-3 otI F ig. 1.

Fig; 4t isa sectional view, partly in plan, onftheline L1;--4of Figi. 3; i

IFfig; 5 isa crossaseotional.L view., on-rthe'line of Fig. :2: f

Fig. G is a. fragmentary view illustrating the interrupter or contact structure in association with thecam. l f

The apparatus hereinafter described, and constituting only one example ofV my invention, .constitutes ignition timingY and controlling. apparatus adaptable to the four cylinder engine `of thefFord automobile, in lieu of the standard Ford ignition control comprising a primary circuit commutator or timer driven by .the cam shaft of the engine.

Referring tothe drawings, 1 represents anyl suitable stationary supportingvmember, and in thev example illustrated will be recognized as the forward end casting or' .plate covering the timing gear case of a Ford en.- gine `whose mainor crank shaft is indicated at 2, Fig. 1, and whose camshaft, driven by timing gears from the shaft 2, is indicated at 8 having a bearing in the member 1 supported `in the member 1. y c

Acasing 5, supplanthg the Ford" commugtator or timer casing, abuts .against the bearing surface r6 and `engages within thecircular bearing rib Twith :respect towhich the casing V5l is. rotatable. about the axis of the shaft Integral with or secured to the casing 5 Ais theupwardly extending bracketor housing member S'Vt'erminating at its upper end ina casing. 9- `at or adjacent whichis a bearing `for the timer shaft 10, for which. there yis yprovidedl adjacent its lower end the bearing. 11i carried by or integral with the members 5A and S. At thel lower pend of the member 8 is anienlargement 12 having at its lower` end in alignment with the shaft 10 an opening 13 closed by the removable eapid. Within thech'amber 12 there is disposed the gear 15 which, as illustrated, may be a. spiral gear or whichmay be a bevel or any other suitable type oit' gear, meshing with and driven by a spiral. or other suitable' gear 1G The gears' 15 andy `16v have equal; numbers of teeth `whereby the sha-ft 1.() rotates at the same speed as the camshaft 8, that is, at a speed one-half the speed of the maiir or crank shaft 2, in the case of a four cycle for four lstroke engine.

VThe-cap or casing 5,V and the parts carried thereby,y are held in position by the spring finger 17 seoured by bolt `,18 `upon a lug, 19 adjacent the .oil filler 20, ,the ca w 5l havingan axial ydepression 2,1 in whic engages fthe, button Q2 upon `the spring finger 17, the finger 17 being such as employed' npon'a standard Fondi equipment for holding the commutator or timer casing. Such timer casing is supplanted, as shown, by the cap or casing 5 which, with the brack et 8 and parts carried thereby, may be rotated about the axis of the shaft 3. F or4 this purpose is provided a rod or other member 23, Fig. 1, connected at one end to means actuated by the spark advancing and retarding lever upon the steering wheel, and attached at its other end at 24 to the lug 25 upon the member 8 or casing 9.

The shaft 10, at its upper end, drives any suitable type of interrupter or timer structure. In the example illustrated, this structure comprises a stationary interrupter contact 26 mounted upon the member 27 held by screw 28 to the plate or cover member 29 secured by screws 30 to the upper edge of the casing 9. (lo-acting with the stationary Contact 26 is the movable contact 31 carried by the arm 32 supported by spring 33 upon the member 34 suitably mounted upon the plate 29. The arm 32 carries a shoe 35, which engages the cam 36 loose upon the upper end of the shaft 10, upon whose end above the cam 36 is carried in fixed relation to the shaft 10 the distributor block 37 having the terminal 38 rotated by the shaft 10 in succession past high tension distributor terminals 39, one for each cylinder of the engine and equally circumferentially spaced, and forming extensions upon inserts 40 molded within the cap 41 secured in fixed position upon the plate 29, and therefore in fixed position upon the casing 9, by any suitable means, as spring hooks 42, Fig. 1, pivoted to the casing 9 at 43 and engaging the cap 41. To the distributor terminal 38 is connected the spring contact 44 engaging the axial contact 45 in the insert 46 molded in the cap 41. In the socket of the insert 46 is adapted to engage the end of a flexible cable whose other end connects to the high tension secondary of an ignition or spark producing induction coil; and in the sockets of the inserts 40 engage ends of flexible high tensionl cables leading, respectively, to the spark plugs of the different cylinders of the engine. The cam 36 may be fixedly secured to the shaft 10; in the example illustrated, however, it is loose upon the shaft 10 and is angularly advanced, in response to speed changes, by governor mechanism, such, for example, as illustrated in my copending application Ser. No. 525,936, filed December 30, 1921, and comprising the governor plate 47 secured to the shaft 10, suitable weight structure 48 being pivoted upon the plate 47 and acting under centrifugal force to rotate the plate 49 about the axis of the plate 10 and thereby angularly adjustthe cam 36, which is secured to the plate 49.

As indicated in Fig. 2, the axis of the shaft 1() is offset from and forms a great angle with the axis of the shaft 3, it being understood that the angle between the axes of the shafts 10 and 3 may be a right angle, or any other suitable angle. By the aforesaid offset of the cam shaft 10 its axis is not parallel to and does not intersect the axis of the engine shaft 3.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the timing structure may be swung to right or left about the axis of the shaft 3, the extent of movement being limited only by adjacent parts, if any. In the example illustrated, the swinging movement to right or left is limited, on the one hand, by the edge 50 of the oil filler 20, in the case of a Ford engine, and on the other hand, by the lower end 51 of the fan-carrying arm 52, adjustable about the bolt 53 by the adjusting screw 54 engaging upon the heel 55 of lever 52; the screw 54 is adjustable inthe lug 54, carried by the supporting member 1, to clear which, and for any other suitable purpose, the axis of shaft 10 and bracket 8 is inclined forwardly or toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, whereby the axis of the shaft 10, in the example illustrated, is inclined at more than ninety degrees with respect to the axis of the shaft 3.

Without limiting my invention thereto, but by Way of example, it is preferred that the number of teeth in the gear 15 shall be relatively great and shall be an odd number when, as is general practice, the number of cam faces is even, whereby the number of teeth of the gear 15 divided by the number of cam faces leaves a fractional remainder. In the axample illustrated, each of the gears 15 and 16 has fifteen teeth, and with a fourfaced cam, as illustrated, there are three and three-quarters teeth per cam face. The ad vantage of such an arrangement lies in the fact that it facilitates the attainment of proper normal setting of the cam 36 with respect to the shaft 3, and therefore with respect to the engine pistons, in the so-called timing of the ignition apparatus with the engine at rest. It is generally desirable that the timing or normal setting of the cam 36 with respect to shaft 3 shall be such that the int'errupter contacts 31 and 26 are at the point of separating with the bracket 8 in a position which still permits sufficient range of movement in direction for ignition retardation. If this relation does not obtain, with the gear 15 out of mesh with the gear 16, the cam may be rotated 90 regrees (in the case of a four-faced cam) in the direc* tion in which it normally rotates, and to bring the gear 15 again into mesh with gear 16 it will be necessary to rotate the cam and shaft 10 through an angle corresponding with a fraction of a tooth of the gear 15, and so either attain or more closely approximate the desired setting. If the desired setting has been only more nearly approximated by rotation of the cam through 90 degrees, it may be rotated through another 90 degrees, in which case again the gears will not be in position to `mesh with each other, but will require a further movement of the cam and 'shaft 10 to procure a mesh resultingin the the gear through an angle corresponding with the angle of movement of the bracket -8. Accordingly, the shaft 10 rotates through similar angle, carrying the cam 36 with it throughthe same angle, (the governor being inactive), and since the cam 36 is so rotate,

' by swinging the arm 8, one of its angles or points adjacent the shoe 35 will approach or recede from they shoe. such angular movement of the cam 36 due to swinging of the member `8, the relation of the cam to the movable interrupter arm 32 is changed, causing earlier orlater separation of the movable contact 31 from the stationary contact 26, and so advancing or retarding the production of ,a spark, which occurs upon separation of contact 31 from contactxQ. a 1 i Now assuming the engine to be in motion, the'shaft 10 rotates at a speed equal to the speed of the shaft 3, and the cam 36 (neglecting the effect of the governor) periodically separates the interrupter contacts. If, now, while-.the engine is running, the bracket 8 be swung to right or left and so rotatev the mechanism about the axis of the shaft 3, which isrotating, the cam 36 will be correspondingly advanced ahead Aor retarded behind the-shaft 1.0., .as `described in the case where the engine was at rest. It follows, therefore, that while the engine is running the ignition may be advanced or retardedby swinging the arm S in the one direction or the other about the axis of the shaft 3.

WWith increasing speed, the weight structure of the governor moves further and further from the axis of the shaft 10 and advances the governor plate t9 with respecty to the governor piate 47, thereby advancing the cam 36 with respect to the shaft 10, such action of the governor being additional to any advance or retardation edected by swinging the arm 8 to right or left, as viewed in Fig. l.

Vhat I claim is:

1. Ignition timing apparatus comprising a. rotatable shaft, a bracket member, a casing That is to say, by

thereon, a member disposedabove the bottom of said casing, ignition timing contacts carried by said member, a second shaft extending at a great angle with respect to said first shaft and` supported by said bracket member, a driving connection between said shafts, a timing member controlling said contacts, a centrifugal governor in said r,casing intervening between'said second shaft and said timing member for angularly adjusting the same with respect to said second shaft, a cap carried by said casing and carrying high tension terminals, a rotatable distributor within said cap co-acting with said terminals, said cap, contact-carrying member and casing being fixed against rotation about the axis of said second shaft, and means for adjusting said second shaft about the axis of said first shaft for adjusting the timing of ignition.

2. Apparatus for controlling the ignition of a multicylinder engine comprising a rotatable multi-faced timing member, as a cam, a shaft for rotating said member, a second shaft noncoincident with said first shaft, a gear on said first shaft having teeth whose number is prime to the number of faces of said timing member, and a gear on said second shaft driving said first named gear, said timing member and said' first shaft adjustable as a unit about the axis of said second shaft for adjusting the timingof ignition.

3. The. combination with a rotatable timing member, as a cam, and ignition controlling contacts controlled by said timing member, of a shaft whose axis of rotation is offset from and at an angle greater than a right angle with respect to the axis of rotation of said timing member, and a driving connection between said shaft and said timing member, said timing member and contacts being adjustable as a unit about the axis of said shaft for adjusting the timing of ignition.

4. The combination with apair .of casings spacedfrom each other, a bracket carrying one of said casings and carried by another of said casings in fixed position with respect thereto, 'a cam and ignition controlling contacts controlled by said cam, housed in said one of said casings, of a shaft for rotating said cam, a second shaft, a driving con-nection between said shaftsy and housed by the other casing of said pair, said first named shaft and bracket being concentric and disposed at an angle greater than a right angle with respect to the axis of said second shaft, and means supporting said other of said casings for rotatative adjustment about the axis of said second shaft for adjusting the timing of ignition.

5. lThe combination with a pair of casings spaced from each other, a bracket joining said casings, a cam and ignition controlling contacts controlled by said cam, housed in one of said casings, of a shaft for rotating said cam, a second shaft, a driving connection between said shafts and housed by the other casing of said pair, means supporting said other of said casings for rotatative adjustn'ient about the axis of said second shaft for adjusting the timing of ignition, and means movable as a unit with said casings and bracket for adjusting' the timing of ignition iindcjicndentiy of the aforesaid adjustnicnt.

G. The combination With a pair of casings spaced from each other, a bracket joining` said casings, a cani and ignition controlling contacts controlled by said cam, housed in one of said casings, of a shaft for rotating said cam, a second shaft, a driving connec tion between said shafts and housed by the other casing of said pair, means supporting said other of said casings for rotatative adjustment about the axis of said second shaft for adjusting the timing` of ignition, and speed responsive 'ine-ans in said first named casing for varying the position of said cam with respect to said .first named shaft and adjustable as a unit with said oasings and bracket. Y

TjIgnition timing apparatus comprising a stationary supjiiorting member, a rotatable shaft, a gear on the end thereof, a easing open at its one end and enclosing said gear and rotatable on said supporting` member about an axis coincident with the axis of said gear, a second shaft carried by said casing and extending at a great angle with respect to the axis of said first shaft, ignition controlling apparatus operated by said second shaft and carried by said casing, means holding said casing against said supporting member and permitting rotatable adjustment of said second shaft about the axis of said first named shaft, a driving connection between said shafts disposed Within said casing and comprising said first named gear and an intermeshing gear secured upon said second shaft, and means applied at a point remote from said casingI and adjacent said timing apparatus for moving said tiniing apparatus, casing and second shaft as a unit for advancing and re'tarding ignition.

8. The combination with a stationary supporting member, of a casing bearing against and rotatably adjustable upon said supporting member, timing apparatus carried by said casing, a shaft about Whose axis said casing is rotatably adjustable, and a governor for automatically advancing at retard ing ignition driven by said shaft and adjustable as a unit With said casing.

9. Ignition timing apparatus comprising a rotatable shaft, a bracket member, a casing thereon, a cover for said casing, ignition timing contacts carried by said cover, a second shaft extending at a great angle with respect to said first shaft and supported by said bracket member, a driving connection between said shafts, a timing member controlling said contacts, a centrifugal governor in said. casing intervening between said second shaft and said timing member for angularly adjusting the same with respect to said second shaft, a cap surmounting said cover and carrying high tension terminals, a rotatable distributor within said cap coacting with said terminals, said cap, cover and casing being fixed against rotation about the axis of said second shaft, and means for adjusting said second shaft about the axis of said first shaft for adjusting the timing of ignition.

l0. The combination with a rotatable tiniing nien'iber, as a cam, and ignition controlling contacts controlled thereby, of a. shaft whose axis of rotation is disposed at a great angle with the axis of rotation of said timing member, a driving connection between said shaft and timing member, said timing member and contacts being adjustable as a unit about the axis of said shaft, and .means for changing the timing of ignition while said unit remains fixed in one of its positions of adjustn'ient about the axis of said shaft.

ll. Ignition timing apparatus comprising a stationary supporting member, a rotatable shaft, a casing bearing against and rotatable upon said supporting member about the axis of said shaft, a second shaft supported by said casing, timer contacts and a timer cam therefor supported by said casing, said cam driven by said second named shaft, a driving connection between said shafts, and means for moving said casing, contacts and timer cam as a unit about the axis of said first named shaft While said shafts are in rotation for advancing or retarding ignition.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature this 19th day of July, 1921.

ARTHUR ATWATER KENT. 

